[As a followup to our TEM in 2014: History and Trends webinar (available as a stream or a white paper), we’re offering a series of posts covering telecom expense management – where it came from, where it’s going, and trends for the future.]

If you haven’t heard, Phone + Tablet = Phablet

This newest entry into the mobile device market is a mashup of ideas, designed to offer more screen space, while still providing the talk capabilities of a phone. Already big in global markets, it is hitting the US consumer hard.

Barclays projects sales of phablets rising from 27 million in 2012 to 230 million in 2015. Why should a business IT or Telecom manager care? This just means the range of devices your staff has to secure and support is set to expand. Again.

As with the entire history of telecommunications, more devices means more risk. As employees have more options to choose from, it increases the burden on you to stay one step ahead of them. So take the time to explore what is out there, work them into your security and privacy policies, and prep the support staff for the inevitable questions. Constantly adding one more line item to your telecom inventory is just the wave of the future.